Carbon Fiber Vs. Aluminum Trekking Poles

[Ken Thompson]

Aluminum poles can break"by accident" too ;-) I drove over a pair once. They were not mine:-(

[drowning in spam]

Its actually funny how "offshoring" works. As we moved our jobs and manufacturing to Asia all of a sudden bamboo became the greenest building product on earth. No one ever talks about all the forests they clear cut to grow the stuff. Im sure profits had nothing to do with that marketing plan.

It's not always quite like that. My uncle's farm in the Philipines only grows bamboo and other woods in the…err, margins?…, space that would otherwise pretty much be wasted.

[Lawson Kline]

Don't get me wrong, I am not against bamboo or the small farmers that have been growing it for centuries. It is truly a great product but its not as "green" as alot of advertisements make it out to be. I will say though its alot more "green" then aluminum or carbon fiber and I would rather see it used anywhere I can be. One area I see some potential is bamboo tent poles. They wouldn't be bomb proof but they would be more environmentally friendly then the alternatives plus I would rather look at a bamboo stand then a mine or chemical plant.

[Rick Dreher]

Hi Lawson,

I'm going to date myself here but when I first snowshoed the rental shoes came with poles of…bamboo. Later when I learned to XC ski the entry level poles were likewise bamboo, with the upgrade being aluminum. Come to think of it, a lot of the skis were wood.

I only note it to verify that good bamboo is quite strong, but I know nothing of how it was sourced or treated in production. Good aluminum proved lighter and stronger though, but the bamboo was really inexpensive.

Cheers,

Rick

[Rick Dreher]

Jeffery,

Your future in politics is as bright as a Sierra sunrise :-)

Rick

[Lawson Kline]

Bamboo is strong but not nearly as strong and stiff as some of the hardwoods like Ash or Hickory. As I said earlier I have been working on building wooden trekking poles and think its a great option to aluminum and carbon fiber. A combination of old school and new school that looks great.

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